Suffolk Downs fined for discharging manure

Suffolk Downs, the East Boston racetrack competing to build a resort casino, has been fined $1.25 million for discharging horse dung, urine, and other pollutants into tributaries of the Boston Harbor, according to court records filed in US District Court in Boston Wednesday.

The racetrack agreed to a consent decree that was filed with the court after federal officials began investigating high levels of bacteria and fecal matter in the wetlands around the racetrack. A review beginning in 2008 found the pollutants had been funneling into Sales Creek, which cuts through the racetrack’s 161 acres of land. From there, they made their way into the Belle Isle Inlet, becoming part of Boston Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean and endangering aquatic life.